Trump says US military operations in Iran likely to last at least a month

Ana Ceballos, Los Angeles Times on Mar 2, 2026

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday that military operations in Iran are likely to last four to five weeks, but he is prepared to "go far longer than that" if necessary.

Speaking at the White House, Trump did not mention plans to deploy American troops to the Middle East, but in interviews with media outlets in recent days he said he has not ruled out the option.

"Somebody said today, 'Oh, the president wants to do it very quickly. After that he'll get bored.' I don't get bored," Trump said. "There's nothing boring about this."

The remarks came just hours after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to say how long the United States expected to take to complete its mission in the Middle East.

"President Trump has all the latitude in the world to talk about how long it may or may not take," Hegseth said at a news conference. "Four weeks, two weeks, six weeks. It could move up. It could move back."

At the White House event, Trump reiterated that that his end goal in Iran is "destroying Iran's missile capability," ensure that they "never obtain a nuclear weapon," and that the country cannot continue to sponsor militant groups across the Middle East.

"We thought we had a deal, but then they backed out," Trump said. "You can't do it that way. You gotta do it the right way."

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